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Next Steps

Brandon and I returned home from California- this time we were living in Jacksonville, Florida- with an offer from the company. We were more confused than ever. I think we both hoped going to California would bring us a sense of clarity but all it did was confuse us more. Usually when a new “adventure” (it’s what I call our moves/job opportunities) presents itself, we have no doubts and believe that this is the path God wants us to take. But with this opportunity there was so much more in store for us to think about. On one hand, I knew this was a career move my husband needed to make to help expose and challenge him. And yes we were having our first baby but if we were going to make a decision to move across country, I would have rather done it now before our kids are in school and settled. And then there’s the obvious- we’re having our first baby and moving across country?! Could we do it? We have no clue what it’s like to be parents! My husband and I are Christians and have always relied on Gods plan for our life and to guide us in the direction we need to go. I can honestly say this decision took us a good two weeks with lots of prayer and conversations. And after some tough talks, long nights and planning we decided this was going to be our next adventure! We both had mixed feelings about it all. We were excited, nervous, anxious but we knew at the end of the day, the gut feeling of taking this risk was going to be now or never.

I was able to finish out the school year teaching so at the beginning of June, our apartment got packed up and off our stuff went to California. My parents were gracious enough to have us and the dogs at their house for two weeks while we waited for our belongings and cars to arrive in California. It was such a nice time to spend with them before we made the big move. The dogs especially enjoyed it because they spent every morning to evening outside swimming and running around.

Brandon and I were torn because we could have either driven the dogs across country but with me 6 months pregnant that could get very uncomfortable. Or the other option was to fly them. And since we have big dogs, we had to put them under the plane. I don’t know if you’ve had to fly your pets but its definitely scary and there are some strict requirements. We had to make sure we had the appropriate size crates, they needed to have an exam beforehand, they had to eat at a certain time before the flight…it was nuts. And the sad part was, once we dropped them off at cargo they weren’t let out of their crates until we picked them up at cargo in San Francisco. So they were stuck for a good 12 hours. You could tell once we picked them up they were a little shaken but after an hour or so they were back to their normal selves- thank goodness!

The area we moved to is called San Mateo- were about 20 minutes south from San Francisco. It’s very common to find your living arrangements through craigslist-creepy, right? Well we were lucky enough to score an awesome two-story house right down the street from my husbands’ bosses house! Brandon thought the whole thing was a scam and probably still does to this day, haha. We moved here in the middle of June and learned that most houses in the bay area don’t have air conditioners. Being a Floridian and hearing this was a bit shocking and maybe scary but besides a couple hot days, the weather is so nice. The windows are always open during the day so it’s really relaxing for me! I remember before we moved, the moving company called and said unfortunately our stuff was going to be delayed a couple days. We purposely planned our flight to have us in California the day before our stuff was supposed to arrive so we were a little frustrated at the time but had no choice but to make the best of it.

We got into our house and Brandon’s boss gave us their air mattress, sheets, blankets, pillows… everything we would need to sleep. It was very kind of them and just a glimpse of how giving they are. We ended up purchasing a TV because cable was scheduled to come {the day our belongings were supposed to arrive} and we needed a TV to set up cable. So in our living room we had a TV, air mattress, and two dog beds that we also had to purchase. Oh, and a pregnant wife. Ha! I can’t help but to think back to that time and smile. It’s moments like those that make my heart full thinking of us making memories on our new adventure.